Our Whirlwind Week During the Los Angeles Wildfires
Orange skies from our rooftop patio.
This week, I went back to hot yoga for the first time since December. (Food poisoning, followed by a common cold, and then fleeing LA stopped me from going for a few weeks.) It was my first class back after everything went down with the Los Angeles wildfires. At least, the first round of it. I was excited, nervous, energetic yet totally depleted. This has been a theme for the last couple of weeks: ups, downs, and a million feelings all at once.
And now the fire weather and bad winds are back. It’s impossible to get settled again. I feel like I’ve been living on adrenaline since everything went down, and when I crash, it’s gonna be bad. Which, is why I think it’s important to go to my yoga classes and try to hold onto at least a sliver of sanity. For myself, my kids, my family.
When the Palisades fires first broke out, I didn’t think we’d actually have to leave. My mother-in-law in Toronto was texting us to be safe, pack bags, have the car ready to go. We thought she had a point. After all, better to be safe than sorry. But we didn’t think we’d actually have to go anywhere. We were just being cautious.
However, after two days of watching the news, emotions flooding, hearts breaking for the people who were losing their homes, it was our turn to panic. Here’s what happened.
Our Whirlwind Week During the Los Angeles Wildfires
The dark skies in the morning from our living room.
Wednesday January 8th started out like any other day. Sort of. I don’t usually turn on the news first thing in the morning or check weather reports before refreshing Threads. But other than that, it was essentially a normal morning. Although, the sky was ominous and the winds were wild. The twins were a bit on edge, asking when “the fire show” (the news coverage) was going to be over. To cheer them up, I baked these peanut butter chocolate chip oatmeal cookies from Sally’s Baking Addiction.
As the day went on, and the Los Angeles wildfires seemed to be getting worse and worse, my husband and I asked each other a million times: “Do you think we’ll actually have to leave? Should we go anyway? Now? Or should we wait?” To be as prepared as possible, I’d already packed our car with snacks, water, blankets. And I’d put our passports, green cards, and essentials for the kids in a bag ready to go. My husband had also packed a bag. The only one who hadn’t put together a duffel was me. I’m not sure if it was because I truly didn’t think we’d have to go anywhere or because I was just so busy with the boys all day, trying to keep things normal, that I just didn’t squeeze it in.
By about 6:30, I was starting to get the boys ready for bed. I’d just put toothpaste on their Spider-Man toothbrushes when my husband yelled to us from upstairs. He said we could see the Runyon Canyon fire from our rooftop. I couldn’t believe it. There was no way. I knew Runyon Canyon was about a 4-minute drive from us, but surely we couldn’t see it from our patio. That was crazy!
The fire at Runyon Canyon.
The twins and I dashed upstairs and out onto the roof. When I got outside, I froze. Flames were billowing right there. Helicopters circled overhead; the vista transformed with bright orange and red. It was real. I’d been texting my friends all day—some in Studio City, Santa Monica, Marina del Rey, DTLA—but right then, the scariest text came in from a girlfriend in Pasadena:
They’ve issued a level 3 warning in Hollywood. Please leave ASAP as it’s only going to spread. One of my friends lives a road away from you and she’s evacuating.
Seeing the fire that close made everything incredibly real. Panic, terror, profound sadness. Through everything I was feeling, I knew it was time to leave. Now. I burst into tears. My stomach flipped and I felt like I could fall apart at any second. But then I heard one of my twins asking to see the fire and I thought, oh shit, I have to keep things calm for the kids. We go through so much as mothers, trying to protect our kids and distract them, while still feeling everything that comes with a disaster like this.
Even though my mind was racing, I got the boys back inside, downstairs, and brushing their teeth. While they did that, I raced around the house, throwing things like underwear, sweats, deodorant, my own toothbrush, into my bag.
As for sentimental things, I grabbed my baby book, a photo of my grandparents, and my wedding rings. People are often quick to say that things are just things. However, after experiencing so much death in my life, I’ve come to learn that a lot of the time, things hold much more meaning that what first meets the eye. For example: my late mother’s leather jacket from the 80s, my late father’s running sweater I like to wear on a jog, irreplaceable Polaroid photos of my kids, the throw blanket I associate with cozy nights on the couch with my late grandmother eating caramel popcorn and watching 90 Day Fiancé.
Unfortunately, in an emergency situation, there isn’t enough time to grab everything. At the end of the day, your health and family mean the most. But it still sucks not to be able to bring everything that feels important to you. We’re not rich, by any means, but there are even purchases that, while materialistic, mean something. Things that you’ve worked for your whole life and saved up for to have. Like, my Dior saddlebag that I bought on our belated honeymoon in Paris.
The “red sun” as my sons were calling it.
Anyway. It was one of the most traumatic moments of my life to flee from my home, not knowing if by the next day we’d have a home to go back to. It felt like we were in a disaster movie. Which, fleeing from Hollywood, passing Sunset Gower Studios, was pretty accurate. We got the official evacuation alert as we were backing out of our townhouse. The roads were congested, helicopters flew by overhead, sirens could be heard in all directions. It was very surreal.
One of my husband’s friends had texted him earlier that day to offer up his and his wife’s house to us if we needed a place to stay. So, off we went to Encino. I cried the whole drive there, barely slept that night, and kept refreshing the news on my phone. As my kids softly slept beside me, I felt incredibly grateful to have friends who took us in. (My first thought was that we might have to road trip back to Canada.) I’ll forever be thankful for that. And that we made it out safely. Alive. Healthy. It’s not lost on me how close the fire was and how things could have gone horrifically in the other direction.
By the next morning things were… better, but still incredibly emotional. I really wanted to return home and get back to our regular routine. However, we knew that it wouldn’t be smart or safe to do so. Because of the kids and one of our friends who has Asthma, we made the group decision to get out of town. For the next 8 days, we camped out with two other couples in Encino, Indio, and finally Palm Springs.
I was so thankful that we were able to get away. However, I also had this sinking feeling of guilt. Mostly because I realized how privileged it was to be able to escape while so many others didn’t have that option. We got to breathe clean air and let the kids play outside. It was wonderful, but also weird knowing that people were still stuck in the smoke in LA.
Donating toward and supporting the Los Angeles wildfires relief
Due to the wildfires and bad air quality, we decided to cancel the twins’ birthday party at Griffith Park. They were so excited to do train rides with their friends. Ultimately, it wasn’t worth the risk. However, in the chaos of everything, I forgot to cancel the Milk Bar cake! Thirty-five servings was way too much for us to enjoy on our own without all the party guests, so we walked to our local fire station and dropped it off for the firefighters. They deserve it and I hope they enjoyed it.
After we dropped it off, I posted on Threads about it. (See below.) It just made me happy—and looked like it made the firefighters happy too—and I wanted to share that with people. The response has been mostly positive, save for one person who replied saying that people who do actual acts of kindness don’t “crow about them on social media” and ended with a mind blown emoji. To that I say: often times, seeing or reading about other people giving back to their community and doing something nice can inspire others to do the same.
I’m not trying to brag. And I don’t think what we did was better than what anyone else is doing. Definitely not trying to “crow” about it. I just thought that it might bring a smile to people, inspire them toward a random act of kindness of their own, and encourage people to give back. Especially at a time like this.
Something else that I didn’t post about on social media was donating to the SoCal Fire Fund. After all, we got a refund for the boys’ Oak Grove party rental at Griffith Park. To us, there was no better way to re-spend that money than to donate it to fire relief. If you’re able to, you can donate even just $25 to help victims of the Los Angeles wildfires. You can also donate directly to the Los Angeles Fire Department.
Did you lose your books during the Los Angeles wildfires?
Finally, if anyone lost their books during the Los Angeles wildfires, I’d be happy to send you a copy of each of my books: Thirteen Emotions and The Manhattan Mishap. Email me at melina @ melinamorry . com or DM me on Instagram with an address and I’ll ship them out ASAP. I know this is just a small thing, but reading can be really helpful for your sanity and mental health.
Stay strong, LA.
—ᴍᴍᴍ